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A criminal court in the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia recommended the death penalty in April and referred the case to the top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for a non-binding but legally required opinion.

The final judgement was made on Thursday and the man has been sentenced to death by hanging.

The defendant may appeal the verdict to the Court of Cassation, the country's top court, which may uphold it or order a retrial.

The man snatched his victim from the balcony of her family home in the Nile Delta village of Belqas

The victim's lawyer said: 'I hope the verdict is upheld so that society is assured that deterrence exists.'

The toddler's grandfather said: 'Execution is not even enough.

'I don't know how a 35-year-old person can do this to a child who is a year and eight months old, who cannot even speak yet and still wears nappies.'